Pages

Criminality among immigrants from non-western countries and their children has fallen dramatically, according to a new study by the Rockwool Foundation Research Unit.

In 1990 eleven percent of first-generation Danes from non-western countries had committed crimes. In 2006 that number was five percent.

“A significant reason is better integration. Minorities are managing better in the job market and in relation to education and income,” Torben Tranæs, research director for the Rockwool Foundation, told public broadcaster DR.

Even with the drop, immigrants as a group are still three times as likely to commit a crime as people with Danish heritage as a group.

That statistic does not, however, take into account factors such as income, parents’ background, and age – which Tranæs said are extremely relevant.

“Crime is a youth activity,” he said. “The older immigrants are, the less likely they are to be involved they are in crime.”

When age, social standing, parents’ background and income levels are factored in, minorities today are 30 percent more likely to be involved in crime, according to the study.

On the other hand, the study also showed that first generation Danes are twice as likely to be charged with violent crimes as people with a Danish heritage.